Colour your world in ceramics
Rethink dishware with inspiration from ceramic design studio Meilen
The origin story of Meilen, a modern ceramic design studio tapped by some of the country’s most celebrated chefs, seems fated. The brand’s co-founders, husband and wife duo Bert Walter and Jennifer Bernstein, met in a chance encounter nearly a decade ago at the Frankfurt airport in his native Germany. “It was like meeting somebody you missed your entire life,” says Walter, 52.
An artist trained in printmaking and drawing, Bernstein, 31, realized she’d found her true medium after witnessing Walter’s work with ceramics.
Likewise, Walter, who had been working almost exclusively with monochromatic porcelain for three decades, had an esthetic revelation after seeing Bernstein’s keen understanding of colour.
The Toronto-based couple now work out of Hamilton’s artisan-dense Cotton Factory and have fostered collaborative relationships with revered restaurants, creating both custom one-off pieces and entire tableware suites for fine dining institutions like Restaurant Pearl Morissette in Jordan Station, Ont., and Toronto’s now-closed Canis, an unfortunate casualty of the pandemic.
Walter and Bernstein work to deliver considered pieces that hit at the exact intersection of function and beauty; that are minimal yet tactile.
“Our work is a good complement to food because it doesn’t distract from the food itself — and a lot of people say our pieces just feel right in their hands.” says Bernstein.
“When food is prepared with love and attention, there’s a soulfulness at the heart of it — and we put a lot of that into our pieces.”
To bring that same feeling to your daily dining experience, they say, consider eschewing the traditional 16-piece dinnerware sets that prize achromic uniformity and moving toward a more playful and creative collection. “It’s unbelievable how many food varieties shine on a pink plate,” Walter offers.
Then build your collection over time, gradually assembling an inspiring mishmash of shapes and colours to bring joy to your tabletop. (Meilen has a library of over 2,000 different hues on offer.)
“A lot of people are now open to challenging that fine china ideal,” says Bernstein. “It feels like a modern shift … And you can feel the difference when something is made with care.”